


other worldly

by ldquin



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Lunar Eclipse, Soulmates, Spirits, immortal beings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:21:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27836725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ldquin/pseuds/ldquin
Summary: a short story of two wandering spirits of the sun and moon merging paths.
Kudos: 1





	other worldly

**Author's Note:**

> hey! i don't really know why i wrote this, but i think it's pretty nice so here you go.

the sun and the moon have always been portrayed as opposites. they have never been shown as kindred.

the moon was much, much colder and darker than the sun. that much was sure. and it was only on eclipses that they came together, and those were very occasional.

the sun spirit had always found the moon spirit very beautiful. her soft features and pale complexion reflected that of the moon, giving her an ethereal look about her. and he was sure her inside was just as hypnotizing as the outside.

once upon a lunar eclipse, when the sun and moon met, the sun spirit jumped from his perch upon the face of the sun, and landed in one of the moon's craters.

he looked all around. the moon spirit was nowhere to be found.

he searched far and wide for the familiar long, dark blue locks of the moon spirit, floating around her angelic face like a wave of the tides that the moon pulled. he finally found her, sitting cross-legged in one of the smaller craters. her hair was twisted elegantly into a long braid thrown over her shoulder. she was, as always, intoxicatingly beautiful.

"hello?" his voice seemed to startle her, as she jumped up to her feet and looked at him alarmingly. he tightened his grip on his lyre.

"who are you?" she asked, narrowing her silver eyes.

"i am the spirit of the sun. i've come to see you,"

"why have you come?"

"i believe i have already answered your question, fair spirit,"

"why have you come to see me?"

"i just wanted to see you up close. i see you from my sun every now and again, and i wished to experience your beauty up close,"

"do you want anything from me?"

"no, i swear on all the stars in the sky. i seek nothing but your presence,"

she searched his eyes, and found nothing that should make her believe otherwise. "i never get any visitors,"

"i am aware,"

"it gets awfully lonely on this moon,"

"i can see that. that is why i have come to offer you my company,"

she looked rather displeased. "and why do you think i would want your company?"

"i do not think that,"

"then what do you think?"

"to be quite honest with you, i am not thinking. i was not thinking when i left my sun and i am not thinking now,"

they stood in silence, both inspecting each other, though in different ways. her suspiciously, him admiringly.

"tell me, fair spirit," the sun spirit began, "do you have a name?"

"no, i do not," replied the moon spirit, "i have never referred to myself in the third person, and i have never thought to give myself a name,"

"then i shall call you esmeray!" the sun spirit paused. "if, of course, that is alright with you,"

"it is," the moon spirit said, smiling for the first time since meeting the sun spirit. "if i can, in return, call you... helio,"

"of course. call me anything you please," he returned her smile warmly.

she quirked an eyebrow up. "even if i wanted to call you an imbecile?"

"so long as you call me, esmeray,"

she looked at the sun, which was slowly drifting away. the eclipse was nearing its end. "you can't stay," she told helio.

"why not?"

"you belong on the sun,"

"the sun can live without me. it has survived millions of years without my doing a thing to help it,"

"it needs you! just like the moon needs me!"

"and i need you!"

"you don't need me! what could you possibly need me for?"

"i just do," he told her desperately. "i love you,"

"you barely know me! you would not know if you loved me or not!"

"i do! i swear! i take one look at you, and i know. my heart belongs with you, esmeray. even if you do not wish to be mine, it will still always be with you,"

she looked at him. "you shouldn't stay," she whispered.

"i shouldn't, or you will not let me? because if it were the latter, it would hurt less if you told me directly,"

"you shouldn't!"

the sudden raise in her voice gave helio a start. he saw her gorgeous eyes shimmer with tears, and his heart broke into a million pieces.

"you... you shouldn't..." esmeray nearly mouthed.

"but i want to," helio insisted, approaching her and holding her gently by the shoulders. "i want to," he repeated.

"the sun needs you,"

"no, it doesn't. if i can prove to you that it will function without me, will you let me stay?"

"and if it won't?"

"i will go back to my sun,"

"how?"

"i am a sun spirit, esmeray. i'm sure i can transport myself there from here somehow,"

esmeray contemplated helio's proposal for a few moments. "you have a month to prove yourself," she said finally.

he smiled wider. "i shall do my best not to disappoint you, esmeray,"

"i would hope so," she returned softly.

she turned around and began walking to her crater, where her home was.

"where are you going?" asked helio, catching up to her quickly.

"home," esmeray replied, "you're welcome to join me, if you'd like. or, you could just sleep in one of the neighboring craters," she was joking, he could tell. she shrugged her beige cardigan farther up her shoulders. "it gets cold on the moon,"

her crater wasn't very far from where they'd began walking. esmeray leapt down elegantly from the brim to the very bottom. helio followed, though not as graceful.

there was a wooden trapdoor in the pit on the crater. esmeray pulled it open and entered.

her home was very warm and comforting, complementing the cold and empty surface of the moon. the walls were shrouded with bookshelves lined with every book imaginable. in the middle of the main room, there was a welcoming couch, in front of the hearth and fireplace. esmeray directed helio to a coffee table, on which he put his lyre.

"the fireplace was already there when i arrived, around thirteen millennia ago,"

esmeray walked through a curtain of green vines. helio stopped, unsure of what he was supposed to do. "shall i follow you inside?" he asked her through the vines.

"yes, of course. come in," she beckoned him over. he pushed aside some of the vines and entered. esmeray had taken her hair out of its braid, so it now fell freely down her back and over her shoulders. she'd also shed her cardigan. in the middle of the room, there was a large bed hanging from big ropes on each corner, "i will sleep on the couch," she told him, standing up, "you may stay here, in my bed,"

"i'm afraid i won't be able to sleep if you stayed on the couch, esmeray,"

"what do you suggest? we both take the bed?"

"why not?"

she looked doubtful. "i have no reason to trust you enough to sleep in the same bed as you,"

"then i will take the couch,"

"i'm perfectly fine sleeping on the couch myself, helio,"

"so am i,"

the sincerity in his voice and eyes sparked something within esmeray.

"we will both take the bed," she said with finality.

"are you sure?"

"oh no, actually, why don't i sleep outside instead?" replied esmeray sarcastically.

"which side do you usually sleep in?"

"the middle, it does not matter where, just pick a side,"

helio paused. he chose the right side, and carefully laid down. he felt the mattress dip slightly by the weight of esmeray's body. she turned her back to him as her breaths evened out and she fell asleep. he closed his eyes and drifted to sleep to the soft hums of her breathing.

waking up with esmeray in his arms, with his front pressing against her back, was certainly quite a shock for helio. he tried to get his arm off her, but when he tried, she stirred and almost woke up. he surely didn't want to interrupt on her peaceful slumber.

he worried that he was too warm—the heat of the sun rubbed off on him greatly—then he worried he was too heavy, then he worried that he accidentally pulled her closer in his sleep. in other words, he was worrying far too much.

helio sighed, deciding to pull away. he pulled his arm back, but esmeray's hand stopped him.

"don't," she murmured, "it feels nice," she brought his hand to rest on her chest, right over her heart.

"are you too warm?" he asked her gently.

"just warm enough,"

"am i too close?"

"just close enough,"

"am i—"

"stop. i'm fine,"

"how long has it been since we fell asleep?"

"only around three hours," she yawned.

as much as helio was unsure if esmeray was comfortable with their position, he was also enjoying himself immensely. he'd never been so close to another being since his arrival on the sun, only half a millennium before her. but thirteen and a half millennia is a long, long time. the contact felt foreign to him, and he found himself wishing he never had to let go.

"esmeray?"

he received a hum of acknowledgement in return.

"what do you do here?"

"i'm not quite sure i know what you mean by that," she muttered sleepily.

"what do you do to pass the time? you said so yourself, it gets lonely here, what do you do to block out the loneliness? even if for just an hour or so?"

"read. sing to myself. i feel like that's all. what do you do on the sun?"

"not much. the same as you, without the singing, i suppose. i do play the lyre, though,"

"what does your home look like?"

"quite a bit like yours, sans the fireplace, of course,"

esmeray laughed quietly, the drowse evading her almost instantaneously. she slowly turned around to face him. her silver eyes met his warm brown irises, and it seemed like she'd just found the very last piece to a puzzle that's been left unfinished for centuries. it felt like she was only half of a heart without ever realizing it, and helio came, and she became whole.

it felt like everything was in place.

and perhaps it was.

for reasons unbeknownst to her, esmeray leaned forward to kiss helio sweetly. his eyes widened considerably, before closing.

if staring into one another's eyes felt right, then this felt absolutely perfect.

they pulled away against both of their better wishes. there were undeniable sparkles in their eyes. helio sat up, esmaray following his lead.

"tell me you felt that as well," he pleaded, gently picking up her right hand and enclosing his bigger ones around it. a jolt of electricity shot through them, exploding inside in a combustion of euphoric bliss.

"i did," she said, tucking her legs under her dress' skirt. "what does it mean?"

"i'm afraid i don't know,"

"it felt nice,"

he nodded.

it felt nice enough for them to lean in and kiss again. helio let go of esmeray's hand, holding her by her waist and the back of her head. she wrapped her arms around his neck, playing with the small hairs at the nape of his neck, sending tingles along his spine.

esmeray pulled away first, eyes half-hooded by her eyelids. helio pushed her hair out of her face to admire her.

"you're beautiful,"

her cheeks tinged with pink.

he cupped her cheek. "i love you,"

she didn't protest. she didn't say that he barely knew her, because she felt like she knew so much about him, and was sure he felt the same. "i'm sorry,"

"for what?"

"i cannot return your statement sincerely," she turned her eyes downwards.

"i don't need you to," he told her, taking both her hands again. "i only need you to know that that's how i feel," he touched the tip of her nose to his.

she smiled, closing her eyes. "i appreciate your honesty,"

"how is the sun?" asked helio after a moment of silence.

she touched the moon pendant resting in the valley of her cleavage, over the fabric of her dress. it was a full circle, but half of it was lit. "the moon is still reflecting off light from it, so it must be fine,"

"what is that?" he touched her necklace.

"it's a necklace. it tells me what phase the moon is in,"

"it's warm,"

"it uses light taken from a nearby star,"

he'd never noticed that before. "has it always been there?"

"since my first day on the moon,"

helio's hand came up to brush through her hair. esmeray closed her eyes, a small smile gracing her lips. he put his finger under his chin, urging her to meet his eyes. it was as if someone had sprinkled gold and glitter in her eyes. his heart gave a flutter when he realized that he might have been the one who had had that effect on her. she leaned into his touch.

they laid back down, resuming the position they had been in when they woke up. they felt like they were made for each other. each and every crevice and curve fit perfectly with another, both bodies acting as one, connecting as one. his lips just barely brushed against the nape of her neck, and their hands were intertwined. they were close enough for her scent to fill his senses, almost overwhelmingly. she was humming a song softly. he didn't know what it was called, or if it was even a real song at all, but it sounded beautiful coming from her.

he gently caressed her arm with his free arm. she was freckled with stardust. "beautiful," he whispered, pressing a kiss to her neck.

"i think you need a thesaurus," she joked, "you keep using the same word over and over again,"

"every single thesaurus in the universe combined could never give me enough words to describe how wonderful you are,"

she blushed, having never been complimented so immensely in all her thirteen thousand years of being.

"thank you,"

"it's only the truth,"

the weeks went by in a blur of reading, talking, singing, and more of the limited activities one can do on the moon. before helio could even say "perpendicular", a month was over, and it was judgement day.

he woke with a heavy heart. he made sure to check esmeray's pendant. the moon was still lit. he breathed a sigh of relief.

esmeray let out a sigh, alerting helio to her stirring. her hand instinctively reached up to touch her necklace. feeling the warmth of the lit part of the moon, she smiled softly and burrowed deeper into helio's chest.

"i love you, helio,"


End file.
